John Cena Is Not Turning Heel

It is the inevitable topic that rears its head every year around WrestleMania. Should the WWE turn its top babyface John Cena heel? A new report suggests that the idea is in discussion, yet I am here to tell you not to hold your breath.

The WWE should turn John Cena heel! That is the strategy most armchair bookers would take if they were holding the WWE pencil in creative. It is hardly an original idea as many WWE Creative Team members have made that suggestion to the boss. Unfortunately most of those bold creators are now working elsewhere.

The story broke over the last few days from Wrestling-News.net. There is no source attributed to the story but here is what the boys had to say.

“WWE officials have been discussing several outcomes for the WWE Championship match at the WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view, including an idea of having John Cena aligning with The Shield and being revealed as the leader. There has been talk of having Cena snap and turn heel for not being able to gain redemption and face The Rock in a rematch at Extreme Rules, as well as an idea for Cena to go over, gain the respect of The Rock and face off against The Shield at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. It will be interesting for sure to see what happens over the coming weeks.”

It would appear that the website has some source although they aren’t crediting that individual that gave them the story so I am not sure whether this is their source or they lifted this off of another site. Is this story true? Who knows but I tend to believe it. The idea of turning Cena heel is something that comes up annually. So the fact that someone is trying to pitch it doesn’t surprise me. Suggesting that the idea is anything more than a pitch to Vince McMahon is where I become dubious.

The John Cena heel turn isn’t happening anytime soon. Do I want to see it happen? Sure, I think it would certainly inject a fresh experience to WWE programming as opposed to the same John Cena at the top of the mountain for the last several years. But I don’t work for the WWE nor have any influence there whatsoever. Word on the street is that the only person to give the green light on such a drastic turn has been dead set on it for years and isn’t likely to change.

It all comes down to two things that I can see. One is the merchandising revenue that the WWE takes in from John Cena merchandise. The guy is a cash cow when it comes to swag. Will Cena offer those same kinds of returns as a heel? I highly doubt it. The other being that the WWE turned Steve Austin and it failed miserably. I think the lessons learned from that turn and the money lost on merchandise will prevent this from happening in the near future.

The other factor here is who will lead the brand? Who will be that top babyface in Cena’s spot if he were to turn? Sheamus? Ryback? Randy Orton? CM Punk? None of those guys bring to the table what Cena does as the top babyface of the company. If they did than maybe Cena would have already turned. The only way I can imagine that it is even considered is if there is a young, promising star or stars that are ready to ascend to the top of the cards. Unfortunately I just don’t see that anywhere in the cards right now.

John Cena turns heel and joins The Shield and then what? You’ll get the same matches you have seen before with Cena vs. Sheamus, Orton, Jericho, and probably Punk. Cena vs. Ryback is intriguing but hardly worth the payoff of turning Cena heel. Other than a great moment and it would be great, the idea of turning Cena is shortsighted when you look at the big picture. I’d love to see it but it makes no sense.

Quite frankly I couldn’t imagine a worse time to turn him. Business is red hot for the WWE right now, with multiple RAW house show sellouts. You have less of a chance of seeing something this major now than ever. Why tinker with something that is working better now than it has in the last few years?

I’d love to see a Cena heel turn but it just isn’t plausible right now.

Eric is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Camel Clutch Blog. Eric has worked in the pro wrestling industry since 1995 as a ring announcer in ECW and a commentator/host on television, PPV, and home video. Eric also hosted Pro Wrestling Radio on terrestrial radio from 1998-2009. Check out some of Eric's work on his IMDB bio and Wikipedia. Eric has an MBA from Temple University's Fox School of Business.

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